Keeping Heroes and Heroines Busy

Susan here - like the other Wenches, I’ve written my share of heroes and heroines with special gifts, talents, occupations – some of them remarkable abilities, some of them unusual, some just the right sort of hobby or occupation to expand and ground that character and add dimension to the story.  

What is the appeal of a fictional character—hero, heroine, main character or villain—who possesses a particular talent or remarkable skill, or even abilities above and beyond the norm? I find it a significant aspect of any story, whether I’m writing it or reading it. Characters need to be multi-dimensional to add substance to not just character but plot, detail and story arcs. And characters in a historical romance need a center to their lives that is separate from the love interest, even when the relationship is central to the story.

With every book, I love discovering my character's gifts and abilities, and love researching to learn more about characters’ talents and skills. I want my heroes and heroines to have something unique about them that belongs to them, whether it’s dormant and they need to discover it, or a skill that is a particular focus in their lives. And for me, it’s a great chance to learn something new that I can share with readers, such as harp playing, hawking, forestry, archery, swordsmanship or engineering design, music or art – it’s a long list, and often I’ve had the opportunity to research something new to me.

Among the heroes I’ve written, there have been warriors and knights, soldiers, swordsmen, archers, forest outlaws, Highlanders keeping cattle or stealing it. There’s a fiddle player, a swordsmith, a medieval surgeon, a hands-on healer, a falconer, a Regency doctor. And there are the intellectuals—lawyers, scholars, professors; the lawmen and the outlaws; a deep sea diver, a lighthouse designer, a bridge engineer, a road engineer.

Heroines who have a core interest in their lives beyond the hero and the relationship, something that is essential to them, a personal purpose -- that to me is a naturally rendered heroine – even if it's an extraordinary ability. We all have something that we do, something we feel compelled to do.

Some of my heroines are healers ( a medieval physician, a midwife, a natural hands-on healer). Some have the Sight, some can see the Fey. Some are musicians (singers, harpers), some artists (a stone carver). Some are physical gifted—an archer, a swordswoman, a warrior-princess. Some are academics, writers, poets, historians.

What's intriguing about that gift or skill might be the process of learning it, or how they handle the gift. Other times, the complement or contrast in the special interests of hero and heroine create possibilities and tensions in the story that otherwise wouldn’t be convincing.  

The Victorian heroine of Kissing the Countess is a folksong collector and singer who goes into the hills in search of the old Gaelic tunes—and the hero is the landowner, newly returned and set on clearing those hills. Juliana in The Swan Maiden is an masterful archer who meets a forest outlaw so adept he can catch arrows mid-flight. James Lindsay, a Scottish forest outlaw with an uncanny ability to train hawks, and Lady Isobel, who can foresee the future, must find ways to avoid the king’s men in Laird of the Wind.

The burden and the price of some extraordinary gift can become a character’s challenge – in Lady Miracle, the medieval heroine’s powerful natural healing gift must be hidden, though it compels her to train as a physician. Another heroine with the Sight in The Raven’s Wish sees the hero’s death and warns him to go away--and she wishes she had never seen that vision.  

With a good talent to play with in the story, events, situations and conflicts can be out of the ordinary and add consequences and raise the stakes in the story, adding motivation and conflict—such as the Scottish prophetess whose ability causes problems for the forest outlaw intent on training his hawk. 

Years ago, while writing The Angel Knight, I was well into the first draft when I realized that the heroine was a total bore. I had plenty of plot--a medieval Scotswoman held in an iron cage by the English, dying of exposure; the hero frees her and then chivalrously marries her; but to his surprise, she recovers, and then he has a wife, a ruined castle, and a life he never planned. But the heroine was just not interesting and had nothing to offer the story. She desperately needed a hobby.

Impulsively I gave her a Celtic harp, and (after much research!) she became a gifted harper. That changed the nature of the character and the story so much that I learned the value of giving heroes and heroines something to DO. Regardless of how exciting or fast-paced the story, believable characters, like all of us, need something that holds worth and meaning for them alone. In a story, that gift or ability can make all the difference when it dovetails with and enhances plot.

As writers, why do we choose certain gifts for some characters? Is it because it fits with the planned development of plot or character, or does it come from the author’s interest in exploring the gift itself?

What talents and abilities do you like to see in heroes and heroines? Does a paranormal or a “normal” gift appeal more to you? Do you prefer more familiar talents -- like cooking or needlework -- to less common abilities in heroines? 

Comments

[Sonya Heaney]

"Do you prefer more familiar talents -- like cooking or needlework -- to less common abilities in heroines?"

I do enjoy it when heroines have abilities like that, as there's a tendency at the moment to write "Girl Power" heroines who "aren't like other women", and they make fun of those "other women" for being able to sew or dance etc. I don't like when traditionally feminine activities are ridiculed - very sexist!

I do also like unusual abilities and skills.
The problem with giving characters unique abilities is all the extra research. :)

[Sonya Heaney]

That said, I found this article interesting:

https://goo.gl/72aj6j

[Susan King]

Very good points, Sonya! I do tend to give my medieval heroines in particular unusual hobbies and interests - archery, harp playing, hands-on healing, sword play, they enjoy running the household if they're not running around the forest. ;) I haven't written many heroines whose focus is mastering needlework, cooking, running a household, but that's partly me - I think I'd have to do more research for a needleworking heroine or for one gifted at cooking than for one who plays a harp!
But I'm willing to try. Maybe I'd learn something I could put to good use. My own family might appreciate it, LOL! :)

[Susan King]

Fascinating, thanks! :)

[Andrea Penrose]

Wonderful blog, Susan. I feel the same way you do—a special talent or passion helps a heroine come alive and capture a reader's interest. An individual fire is what e helps connect them.

[Susan King]

Yes, exactly, Andrea! The individual fires that are alive in both H & H helps bond them, and adds depth to both characters. And whatever it is they do, whatever pulls at them, helps create a more complete character, and the interesting talent or vocation can add a lot to a book!

[Bona]

As a reader, I recognize that one of the things that make me love a book is the 'competence porn' - a character performing its skills in anything in a wonderful way.
I've read some where that 'We get a kick out of watching people do practical things impressively', and at least I'm one of those.
You cannot write a romance novel just with the romantic part of the story. I've read many awful novels that really haven't got anything else and it's like watching a couple of teenagers saying 'I'm with you now, now I don't like you, now we're back again' - quite boring.
So yes, I like to see any talent or ability in the main characters. Specially if they tend to be very good at it. I don't like paranormal gifts, but normal ones. Both in a heroine and a hero I prefer less common abilities I know very little about. That way keeps me more interested in the story but of course, that implies a lot of research. I think in the end I like any depiction of a character that is great at its job, whatever this is.

[Dana Sherwood]

Yes, so much this. The hobby doesn't even have to be unusual. I just need to see something other than "completing the romance arc" going on with him or her.

I actually get a little bored when a protagonist is the absolute best of the best at something. The first thing I'd do to a character like that is screw them up in some way so at least they'll have a goal to shoot for and stuff to be unhappy about.

[Sue McCormick]

In my own life, I enjoy cooking and needlework, so I like to read about practical things as well and the special things.

A by word on those two activities. One thinks of both cooking and embroideries as pattern following, But they don't need to be. Some people are natural designers, but all of us are at least partially creative. You read and try an recipe (the first time pretty well following the "book") and then you think. This is good, but wouldn't it be better if …" and you add more milk, substitute cream for milk, or wine, or …

And you take an embroidery pattern, and change the colors, or use a specialty stitch not called for by the designer, and so on. There is a lot of joy in this type of adjustment and a lot of creativity.

Susan, If you, personally, are not interested in such "common" activities, than don't write them; write what interests you! But other authors my find my "creativity hints" of interest. Especially those authors who may have such personal interests, but haven't thought to include them because they're "dull." On the other hand Anne Gracie's Daisy in the Chance sisters stories sews — how "dull" is that! NOT at all when we're reading about Daisy.

[Mary T]

Well said Sue McCormick!

Personally, I usually don't focus on what characters' special interests are unless they are an integral part of the story - like Daisy's sewing and fashion sense.

Also, not normally a fan of the paranormal - although I have enjoyed quite a few Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick books.

So there you are - I'm not consistent at all (smile).

[Wendy]

I enjoy seeing the skills that characters have be it gardening, riding. herbalist painter etc. I enjoy embroidery and have a small bone to pick We often see dressmakers as main characters but quite often embroidery and other needle arts are not celebrated. I would love to see a main character that is stitcher

[Kareni]

I enjoy reading about characters with both mundane and out of the ordinary talents. My own talents are limited, so I can often learn something new while reading an enjoyable story.